In the darkness, York spoke in a low voice, but every word reached Ivan’s ears with crystal rity. He threw off the covers, and the sudden re from the bedside <bmp </b>made both of them squint.
“What are you doing…” York blinked, but before he could finish, Ivan grabbed his hand, cutting off his words in his throat.
Ivan didn’t say anything–he just shook his head. York understood: he meant for him not to go looking for Ileana.
“Alright, alright, I get it.” Mimicking Alessia’s habit of pinching his neek, York reached out and gave Ivan’s cheek a gentle squeeze. “Don’t be scared, okay? I’ll look out for you.”
York always thought he didn’t really need friends, but having someone to watch
over wasn’t so bad.
Inside, the mood grew lighter, but out in the living room, tension hung heavy in the air. Alessia quietly set down her spoon and fork, while Zachary had already
returned to his seat.
“Lessie, do you… do you know something you’re not telling us?” Brendan’s mouth twisted into a frown, his expression weary and defeated. He couldn’t understand where things had gone so wrong. How had ite to this?
Karen looked at Alessia too, her gaze full of hope and dread. She wanted to believe this was all just a misunderstanding–but the possibility that it wasn’t terrified her. All these years, she had thought Ileana was just a little vain, but never truly capable of something like this.
-But Alessia’s silence slowly drained the hope from Karen’s eyes. She forced a brittle smile, disbelief written all over her face, and tears began to spill down her cheeks.
“Ileana… Why would she do this? Seventeen years, I’ve never treated her unfairly. Even when our family started falling on hard times, I still did everything I could to give her what she wanted. Why… why would she be like this?<b>” </b>
Karen pressed a trembling hand to her chest, her grief so raw it left <b>Brendan </b><b>and </b>Zachary at a loss <i>for </i>words.
Of everyone, Zachary had always doted on <b>Ileana </b>the <b>most</b>. <b>Even </b><b>though </b><b>Ivan </b><b>and </b>York’s usations <b>had </b>forced <b>him </b><b>to </b><b>decide </b><b>to </b><b>cut </b><b>ties </b><b>with </b><b>her</b>, <b>seventeen </b><b>years </b>of memories didn’t <b>just </b>vanish overnight. <b>The </b><b>pain </b><b>was </b><b>real</b>, <b>no </b><b>matter </b><b>how </b><b>hard </b><b>he </b>
<i>1/2 </i>
tried to deny it.
Ever since she was little, Ileana had clung to him–insisting they even go to the same school, terrified of being bullied if they ended up in different grades. He’d protected her for years, only to find out the sister he cherished was the reason his own brother had ended up like this. No one could face that without their heart breaking.
“At this point, it’s only spection. There’s no hard evidence yet.” Alessia rubbed her nose, trying to mask her difort.
Empathy had nevere easily to her, and no matter how tangl rtionship with Ileana was, it wasn’t really her concern. She cou their pain, but feeling it herself was another matter.
Mortons‘
understand
“Right now, what matters is–when did you first find out Ileana wasn’t your daughter?”
They would never get to the bottom of this unless they knew where to start.
Karen shook her head. Alessia grabbed a tissue and handed it to her.
“She just showed up one day waving a DNA test in our faces. Until then, we had no idea.”
Alessia frowned, her mind racing.
“So you’re thinking Ileana knew about her real family all along?” Zachary pressed, his brow furrowed.
“It’s strange, isn’t it?” Alessia arched an eyebrow.
“Neither set of parents suspected anything, and yet the girl you spoiled and cherished the most was the first to find out. You never mistreated her, never yed favorites–so why would she suddenly decide to get a DNA test done? And the timing–she picked the exact moment when the Morton family was struggling and the Tate family was on the rise. That’s when she brought out the results.”
Chapter <b>55 </b>
<b>Chapter </b><b>153 </b>